Dupuytren’s disease. State of the art and therapeutic perspectives

Abstract

Dupuytren's disease is a benign fibroproliferative disorder characterised by the sclerosis and the retractile thickening of the medial palmar aponeurosis and digital aponeurosis, which can lead to the progressive and irreversible finger flexion. Genetic, metabolic and environmental factors are involved in the pathogenesis of Dupuytren's disease, but their role is not clearly established. Different medical therapies have been proposed for Dupuytren's disease treatment, but their real effectiveness has not been shown. Surgical therapy (fasciectomy) is the most used treatment, whose purpose is to correct finger deformity and to avoid joint ankylosis. A team of French rheumatologists has developed a non-surgical approach, the percutaneous needle fasciotomy (PNF), whose results in less aggressive forms of Dupuytren's disease are comparable to traditional surgery. PNF can be rapidly performed, presents a low cost and a low rate of complications and represents a valid alternative to surgical treatment of Dupuytren's disease. In this review we report our results on 24 patients treated with PNA for Dupuytren's contracture.